236 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



problem, and thai when It comes to pass in Pennsylvania we shall 

 Bee results in better country schools, and broadened opportunities 

 for our young people, and such an uplift to the social life of the farm, 

 as no other reform can bring to it." 



At a meeting of the National Council of Education a few years 

 ago in Denver, Colo., a committee famous in educational circles as 

 "The Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools," was appointed to in- 

 vestigate and report on this subject. The committee was composed 

 of leading educators, Hon. W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner 

 of Education being a member. After a most thorough examination 

 into the conditions of the rural schools of the United States, the com- 

 mittee, in a summary of a more exhaustive report, said: "One of 

 the great hindrances to the improvement of the rural school lies in 

 its isolation, and its inability to furnish the pupil that stimulative 

 influence that comes from contact with others of his own age and 

 advancement. The committee, therefore, recommends the collecting 

 of pupils from small schools into larger, and paying from the public 

 funds, for their transportation, believing that in this way, better 

 teachers can be provided and more rational methods of instruction 

 adopted, and at the same time the expense of the schools be ma- 

 terially lessened." 



Prof. L. D. Harvey, of Wisconsin, while Supt. of Public Instruction 

 in that State, made a more careful investigation of the consolidated 

 plan, and his conclusions as published were, that the health of the 

 children is better, they being less exposed to stormy weather, and 

 avoid sitting in damp clothing. Attendance is from 50 to 150 per 

 cent, greater, more regular and of longer continuance, and there is 

 neither tardiness nor truancy. Pupils work in graded schools, and 

 both teachers and pupils are under systematic and closer supervi- 

 sion. Pupils are in better schoolhouses, where there is better light- 

 ing, heating and ventilation, and more appliances of all kinds. 

 Fewer teachers are required, so better teachers may be secured, and 

 better wages paid. Better opportunity is offered for special work. 

 Cost in nearly all cases is reduced. Pupils are benefited by a wider 

 circle of acquaintance and the culture resulting therefrom. The 

 whole community is drawn together. Public conveyances used for 

 carrying children to school in the daytime may be used to trans- 

 port their parents in the evenings, to public gatherings, lecture 

 courses, musicals, etc. Finally, he says, by transportation, the farm 

 becomes the ideal place to bring up children, enabling them to se- 

 cure the advantages of centers of population, and spend their even- 

 ings and holiday time in the country, in contact with nature and 

 plenty of work, instead of idly loafing about town. 



I hope friends you will bear with me a little longer, while I quote 

 from the University of Illinois Bulletin on this subject, issued last 



